Source: Global Times
[Global Times special correspondent Xie Jianing Global Times Reporter Liu Haoran] On the 19th, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake occurred in western Mexico. Many states adjacent to the western coast of the country have a strong tremor. As of now, two people have unfortunately died in this sudden natural disaster . The date of "9/19" is a painful memory for the older generation of Mexicans: two major earthquakes in the country in 1985 and 2017 occurred on this day.
magnitude reaches 7.7 magnitude
"Mexico Daily News" reported on the 20th that according to the Mexican National Earthquake Administration, the country's 7.7-magnitude earthquake occurred at 1:05 pm local time on the 19th, and then several aftershocks occurred, with magnitudes ranging from 5.1 to 5.3. According to the Earthquake Bureau, the epicenter of this major earthquake is located about 63 kilometers south of Koalkoman City, Michoacan State, with a depth of about 15 kilometers. In addition to the coastal areas of the country, its capital, , Mexico City, , also had a strong sense of tremor. The community where the Global Times reporter lives is located on the west side of Mexico City, and the building swayed significantly during the earthquake. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of the United States reminded on the 19th that tsunamis may occur on the coastline with a focal diameter of 300 kilometers. The disaster is not singular. , 72 kilometers southeast of the capital, also showed signs of activity from the 18th to the 19th, and the meteorological department has issued a yellow warning.
As of press time, the earthquake had killed two people and injured many people. Both of the dead were from the city of Manzanillo, Colima, where one died of a wall collapse, while the other died of a collapse of a gym. Many buildings in the epicenter of Kekenzhou were damaged and collapsed, including a hospital. There was also an oil tank explosion in the state of Tecman, which injured four people, including two minors. On the day of the earthquake, there were also large-scale power outages and traffic congestion in Mexico City, and about 1.2 million residents were directly affected.
"Unfortunate coincidence" caused panic
According to the "Mexico Daily News", the earthquake on the 19th evoked painful memories of many Mexicans. On September 19, 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake occurred in the capital Mexico City, killing nearly 10,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. In 2017, the country's 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Puebla also occurred on September 19, killing 370 people. Some Mexican media called these three natural disasters that took place on the same day "unfortunate coincidence." A researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico said that the probability is about 0.00075%, which is equivalent to "only you have bought more than 130,000 lottery tickets to win."
Some passers-by in Mexico also expressed surprise. Valdes, a 55-year-old Mexico City resident, said she lost several relatives in the 1985 earthquake. When the earthquake hit, she felt instinctively fearful. In the streets and alleys of Mexico, many people said that September 19 must have been "cursed". Reuters said that a social survey showed that about one-third of people in the country who experienced the 2017 earthquake suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. When the earthquake occurred, many residents developed symptoms such as emotional collapse and extreme anxiety.
However, in the academic community, the statements of "cursive day" are purely nonsense. The National Earthquake Administration of Mexico explained that Mexico is located at the junction of the Pacific Plate, North American Plate and the Cocos Plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is already in the Pacific Rim earthquake zone where earthquakes occur frequently, and is the most active earthquake zone in the world. Spindora, chief analyst of the Earthquake Bureau, said that Mexico has experienced many earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above since the beginning of the last century, and sometimes it will be several times a month. Therefore, earthquakes in different years occur on the same date, "although the probability is low, it is not impossible."
Just had an exercise held on the day of the earthquake
On Mexican social media, people's discussions about earthquakes were another situation: many optimistic young people used "emoticons" to spoof the earthquake.For example, someone is reading a book in an emoticon package called "How to Jump from September 18 to September 20". Someone used the " Obama emoticon package" to joke: "These Mexicans are really hardcore, and they use real earthquakes for earthquake exercises." According to Reuters, on the morning of that day, Mexican President Lopez presided over a commemorative event for the victims of the previous two earthquakes, and at the same time lowered the flag and held a one-minute silence ceremony. As part of the commemoration, earthquake-resistant exercises were held in the capital Mexico City and other areas, so many people were still outdoors when the earthquake occurred and escaped by chance.
It is worthy of recognition that Mexico has been committed to improving the earthquake disaster response mechanism since the 1985 earthquake. The country effectively reduced casualties by 80% in the 2017 earthquake, winning international recognition. The American magazine Dialogue gave an example that Mexico City adopted an advanced early warning mechanism for earthquakes. In the recent series of earthquakes, Mexico City can basically give a "golden 20-second warning" for citizens so that citizens have enough time to evacuate buildings or find bunkers.
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